Chapter 1 Unexpected "Dark Domain"

The energy turbulence caused by forcibly traversing space-time finally subsided, and the various sets of sensors on the Giant Tortoise Rock Terrace began to restart according to the program settings. As the external monitors resumed operation, the scene outside the spaceship was presented to everyone.

Hao Ren ordered Nolan to switch to viewing mode, and half of the bridge walls were instantly covered with real-time images, as if the spaceship had suddenly become transparent. In that real-time image, everyone saw a clear and bright sunny sky, and a continuous sea of clouds in the distance.

The spaceship seemed to be hovering in the high altitude.

Nolan adjusted the angle of the external monitors to show the situation below the spaceship. Hao Ren looked down and saw mountains undulating across the land below. Between two mountain ranges covered with white snow was a long, narrow plain dotted with rivers and lakes. Some city-like and village-like building complexes were scattered across the plain, as if colorful jewels were scattered on a green velvet carpet.

"This is really an... unexpected 'dark domain'..." Looking at this vibrant and peaceful (at least on the surface) world, everyone was speechless for a long time. Finally, Vivian broke the silence, "Are we really not in the wrong place?"

In fact, Hao Ren was also wondering about this: could it be that Raven 12345's hand slipped when she was fiddling with the beacon, and she got the coordinates of some unknown world to fool people? Could this be the dark domain?!

How did the dark domain come about? It was the result of the explosion of the Divine Kingdom! The entire power of the Founding Star and the Creation Goddess was compressed together and then exploded, directly tearing the order structure of the universe and throwing an entire star system out of the ordered world, stuck in the gap between the world and the void, which created the dark domain. How could such a birth process that sounds like it would kill people leave behind such a peaceful world that looks like a paradise? In fact, under that scale of impact, even stars would be torn into pieces, let alone any ecosystems. Originally, Hao Ren's best expectation for this place was a fragmented universe, with various large and small stellar debris floating in space, and dangerous spatial rifts and energy turbulence blocking the space between the stellar debris. After a female driver like Nolan flew in, she would have to work for two hours to find a parking space—that's the real dark domain!

However, the data does not lie. Nolan quickly completed the analysis of the beacon: "No errors, this is indeed the dark domain—we are already located on the edge of the dream plane's ordered region. The current location is the 'Chaos Zone' at the junction of the world barrier and the void. The remaining protective power of the barrier prevents this area from being swallowed by the void, but strong void signals can still be detected. There's no mistaking this signal."

"Damn it, this isn't dark at all..." Hao Ren muttered, "I even made a special trip to replenish the armory."

Lily also muttered: "I thought my combat armor would come in handy."

"You two, stop filling your heads with violent thoughts. There are still two legions waiting for us to send a signal," Nolan said helplessly, "Are we still broadcasting the beacon? The plan was to start broadcasting the signal after finding a safe foothold and settling down, but now... this place is much safer than imagined."

Hao Ren frowned and glanced at the scene outside. Some kind of intuition made him feel that there was something wrong with this seemingly vibrant place. Hearing Nolan's words, he gently shook his head: "No, don't broadcast the signal yet... The situation is different from what we expected. We need to collect some information before starting the next action. Nolan, first increase our altitude. We're going to take a look at what's going on with this place in the universe—and observe the panorama of the planet under our feet, maybe we can find some traces left by the collapse of the Divine Kingdom or something."

Nolan nodded: "Nolan understands, starting to climb, target is outer space."

The Giant Tortoise Rock Terrace's conventional propulsion engines were activated, and the cloaked spaceship slowly began to increase altitude and head towards the outer atmosphere. However, after climbing for a certain distance, Nolan suddenly stopped.

"Unable to continue climbing," the ship spirit's expression was full of confusion, "Stopped by some kind of anomaly... Strange, I've clearly increased the engine thrust, but the spaceship's altitude hasn't actually changed... We're still in the atmosphere!"

"Unable to escape the atmosphere?!" Hao Ren's eyes widened, and a thought flashed through his mind: Sure enough, this seemingly vibrant world is very abnormal!

Nolan had already quickly activated various sensors at this time: "Performing comprehensive environmental analysis... Strange, the data returned by the sensors is all normal. No abnormal space folding, no gravitational interference, and no camouflage signals. In short, there's nothing wrong, but we just can't escape the atmosphere—after flying to a certain altitude, the 'altitude' value seems to be locked!"

This sudden anomaly awakened everyone from their previous brief peace of mind, realizing that this place was indeed hiding something strange. The expressions on everyone's faces became serious. Izhaks asked the most crucial question: "Can the jump engine still be used?"

"I'll try to activate it," Nolan said quickly, "...The jump engine can still be activated, and the beacon is still working normally. There's no problem with reverse analysis of the starting coordinate data either. As it stands, it should be usable, but I can't guarantee that there won't be any problems after actually starting the warp. Do you want to try to escape from here?"

"Don't start the warp yet, unless we really encounter a situation where we have to run," Hao Ren stopped Nolan from further attempts, "This world is strange. Before we figure out what's stopping us from leaving, don't do anything to stimulate it. Nolan, descend, we're going to the surface."

Since there was no way to leave the atmosphere from above, they had to find a way from the surface. Collecting information was always a good idea at this time.

The spaceship reduced altitude again. As the altitude continued to decrease, the artificial building complexes on the narrow plain became clearer and clearer, and soon it reached the point where details could be seen with the naked eye. In some of the more distinctive building complexes, Hao Ren saw some shadows of the Middle Ages: large houses were built of stone and some kind of primitive concrete, with complex roofs and various exterior decorations that were more decorative than practical, while small houses were mostly wood and stone mixed structures, usually no more than two stories high. The structure of most settlements was very simple and lacked planning, centered on a few large buildings and squares, surrounded by a circle of low-lying residential areas, with fields or pastures outside. Judging from the existing characteristics, the development level of this world probably does not exceed the late Middle Ages on Earth.

But considering the extraordinary powers that might exist here, they couldn't make judgments too rashly.

To collect information about this world, it was of course essential to deal with the natives here—although the sudden appearance of a paradise in a "dark domain", and the fact that there were natives in the paradise itself, was enough to raise警惕, they couldn't ignore it since it was already in front of them. Hao Ren ordered Nolan to approach the human settlement (it was the largest city on the plain) located on the edge of the plain and backed by mountains, and then released the probe.

The scene of the local city streets was quickly transmitted to the holographic projection on the bridge.

Lily perked up her ears and leaned forward to watch, sighing as she watched, "This is really a lively place... There are so many people on the streets."

"If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, who would believe that this is actually the 'dark domain'?" Nangong Sanba shook his head, "There's no sign of the Divine Kingdom explosion at all. Could it be that this is actually a remote planet that was innocently drawn into the process of the Divine Kingdom falling into the dark domain? Because it was just drawn in, it wasn't damaged much?"

"The power of the Divine Kingdom explosion was extraordinary. Even if it was just drawn in, it couldn't have been unscathed. For a fragile ecosystem, even if the angle of sunlight was only two or three degrees off, it would be enough to cause a mass extinction," Hao Ren shook his head, while paying attention to the local residents' words, deeds, and clothing styles, "Interesting... it's not all humans, there are all kinds of races."

"It seems like I don't have to hide my ears and tail!" Lily suddenly pointed happily at the holographic projection, "Look, werewolves!"

In the picture transmitted by the probe, you could see all kinds of passersby walking through the streets and alleys. Among them, there were not only the most common humans, but also other races with distinct alien characteristics. The werewolves that Lily saw were just one of them. Vivian quickly discovered more "aliens": "There are also lizardmen-like creatures, this... is that a cat person? In that case, even Ling Gun can go out openly."

"Not only is there a stable planet with an existing ecosystem—let's assume it's a planet, but this place is also a multi-racial 'paradise'?" Hao Ren showed an interested expression, "Okay, although this place is a bit weird, it's still much better than plunging headfirst into the energy storm of a shattered Divine Kingdom. Nolan, arrange to produce a batch of local clothing, we're preparing to land."

The ship spirit nodded: "Understood, but what am I going to do after that?"

"You stay cloaked and follow us in the high altitude, acting as our support officer," Hao Ren said, "But don't get too close—this place is related to the Creation Goddess after all. If any divine relics react to you, it won't be good."

"Understood."

After some preparation, Hao Ren and his party changed into local clothing and finally set foot on this mysterious and bizarre "paradise".

Considering that it would be difficult for suddenly appearing strangers to blend into the local environment without any sense of incongruity, the group did not choose clothing that looked like the residents' daily wear. Instead, after analyzing a large number of samples using probes, they chose a kind of "traveler" attire. These travelers were not uncommon locally. Based on some of their words and deeds, it should be a special group similar to mercenaries or travelers (adventurers). Using this identity as a cover, the next actions might be easier.